Improvement in machines for cutting cheese, butter



aura $21M JAMES H. THOMAS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS-+ Letters Patent No. 111,788, dated February 14, 1871.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING CHEESE, BUTTER, 8co- The Schedule referred to in these Letters- Patent and making part of the same. I

To all to whom these presents shall come:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. THOMAS, of Lynn, iu the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have made an invention of a new andnseful Machine for Cutting Cheese, Butter, &c.; and do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, due reference being had to the accompanying, drawing making part of 'this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a plan Figure 2, a rear side elevation; and

Figure '3, a vertical and transverse section of a machine embodying my invention. I

I have in originating this invention sought to de- .vise a means whereby to facilitate the act of cutting or dividing cheese, butter, or other analogous articles of a soft but tenacious and somewhat tough character; and to this end My present invention consists in the employment of. a thin knife, disposed edge downward and reaching out horizontally over a suitable table or bench and applied thereto by proper means of support, and also combined with a spring and provided with a foot-rest or stirrup, the whole being so arranged that the knife is operated in a vertical plane over the table, andtoward or away from it, as hereinafter stated; a revolve, ing tablet being applied to the top of the bench and below the knife for supporting the substanceto be out, should such an appendage to the machine be found useful or necessary.

The drawing accompanying this specification represents 'at- A, a substantial table or bench, composed -of four legs, a a a a, and a flat top, I). In carrying out my improvements I aflix to the rear under side of the table top, and pendent therefrom a tubular hanger or bracket, 0, while, sliding vei= tically within the bore of this bracket and within a slot, 1, made in the table top in coincidence with such bore, 1 dispose a stiff bar, e, which risessome distance above said table.

A coiled spring, f, is inserted withinthe bore of the pendent bracket 0, and encircling the bar 0, the lower end of such spring resting upon the bottom of such bore, while the upper end thereof abuts against a pin 'or stop, g, affixed to the bar, as represented, the spring by its expansion serving to force the bar to its highest position.

To the lower end of the. bar 0 I attach a stirrup or treadle, 71, while to its upper end I affix a thin and sharp knife, '13, which projects laterally and horizontally over the table A.

A pressure of the foot upon the stirrup or treadle h effects a corresponding lowering of the knife until its lower and cutting-edge abuts against the tabletop,

consequently any soft substanceplaced upon the table and in-range of the movement of the knife will be expeditiously and easily severed or incised.

To aid the act of moving or turning about a cheese or other object or mass below the knife 13, 1 dispose below such knife a flat revolving tablet, K, 'whichI swivel at its center to the table in a suitable manner and so that it will freely rotate thereon.

A cheese placed upon the tabletmay be turned about under the knife with the greatest ease and celerity, and it would be well to so dispose its pivot or axis that the knife shall terminate thereat, in order that the division of the 'cheese shall be effected by radial incisions with mathematical exactness, provided it be properly placed upon said tablet.

The manual labor expended and time consumed in cutting cheese and other articles vof produce are, in many instances, matters of considerable moment, and the great economy of both, which this invention effects, will, it is believed, entitle it to much value as a-practicle and useful machine.

(7 Mint.

VVha-t I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- ihe arrangement of the knife-bar c and knife l, the spring f and its supporting-bracket c, and the treadle 7t, in combination with the table A, as and for the purposes herein shown and set forth.

JAMES H. THOMAS. \Vtnesses:

E. GRIFFITH, Faun. Gnarls. 

